ARC Review: My Basmati Bar Mitzvah

My Basmati Bat Mitzvah by Paula J. Freedman
4/5 stars
Amulet Books, 2013
246 pages
MG Contemporary
Scheduled to release October 1

Source: Received an e-ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

What a cute book was basically my thought when stumbling upon this book as well as upon finishing. It is technically in the middle-grade category focusing on a 12-year old preparing for her bat mitzvah and will probably work best for those in that age range as us older readers will likely have already had exposure to the cultural and spiritual issues it explores. Still it was a fun and very quick read.

Tara Feinstein has a great mixed heritage. Her father's family are Jews firmly rooted in New York; her mother's family hails from India, bestowing on Tara a Hindu cultural background. Much of this book focuses on Tara navigating her feelings and the expectations of others around about this mixture while also looking at best friend travails and a little bit of time is spent on boys. Unfortunately I tended to find those moments extraneous especially the part that plays out as a bit of a love triangle. The family time and Tara's exploration of her heritage were far more interesting to me.

Yep my favorite moments were definitely Tara's questioning as she readies for her bat mitzvah-we read several conversations between her and a rabbi who encourages her curiosity and doesn't try to spoon feed her answers. Other well-done moments were Tara's fears that she might erase one part of herself. If she goes through with her bat mitzvah, does that mean she's turning her back on her beloved Hindu grandparents? And if her mother converted to Judaism, is Tara also Jewish or does her mother have to have been born a Jew? These and other questions were sensitively handled.

But this book also seemed a little overstuffed. There is a lot of drama among friends with one girl in particular having a lot of issues that were only touched upon. Also one of Tara's passions is Robotics Club, a plotline which begins promisingly but then seems to taper off. I wish a bit more time had been spent on it just to further develop the relationships in the book.

Overall: A very cute read, especially great for its target audience. I suspect older readers will find much of the content very familiar especially if they've made it a point to seek out novels about Judaism and/or Hinduism and/or Indian history and culture. Still that is no reason not to buy/read this one and to be pleased with its accurate cover!

Other Opinions:
Meloframa 
Tea and Writing...
The Reading Nook Reviews
The Streetlight Reader

The Infinite Moment of Us

The Infinite Moment of Us by Lauren Myracle
3.5/5 stars
Amulet Books, 2013
316 pages
YA Contemporary

Source: Received an e-ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest opinion.

I adored Myracle's Shine so it was a no-brainer to request this one. Sadly as I prepared to read this, I started seeing a lot of negative reviews, which got me anxious for my reading experience. When many of the bloggers I trust and tend to agree with dislike a book, I expect that I won't like it either. However I actually ended up enjoying myself, perhaps because of lowered expectations, perhaps because I just had such a strong connection with the author from her previous work, perhaps I just was craving a romantic contemporary although I'll admit that as the book progressed, I became more frustrated.

Let's go back to the beginning, which introduces our two protagonists. First up is Wren Grey, the only child of her parents who have pushed and tried to mold her into perfection. But as she graduates high school, she finally rebels: deferring admission and a scholarship to take a year off to give back in Guatemala. But before that, she has another rebellion by getting her first boyfriend. This boy is Charlie Parker, a foster kid with scars no one should bear, who can't believe that the gorgeous Wren is actually talking to me yet alone willing to be in a relationship with him. What kind of future do this two people have? Can they really belong together?

For the most part, I cruised along following their relationship contentedly. Because the book alternates, in third-person, between them, we get to see their thoughts pretty closely. Neither can quite believe that the other is willing to be together but are so happy that they are. Pretty soon their relationship includes a serious physical component as I mention in my content warning. I'm a veteran romance reader so I didn't bat an eye but if that matters to you, then you're going to want to skip this. I appreciated the mix of physical and emotional especially with the brief reflections of Wren's best friend and her boyfriend's relationship, which also seems to balance the physical and emotion.

Wren is not my favorite character as I sympathized with her parents' concerns over her deferment of college but even more so with her delay in telling them (a delay of months). They did not act in the way she hoped but I wish she had found the courage to let them know sooner. Still I identified with her feelings of expected to be perfect though mine were more internally imposed. Charlie, though, I adored. His early life was brutal with a poor excuse for a mother, a dad who ran, and various poor foster parents. But now Charlie has a good family and I loved them all to bits (there could have been more of them in all honesty!)

BUT the ending is where it really fell apart for me. With a different ending, this book maybe could have gotten a 4. What happens is that Charlie's ex, who has been a thorn between Wren and Charlie throughout their relationship, causes a scene that challenges the young couple and at the very end, Charlie makes what I consider to be a pretty dumb decision. And that's how the book concludes. Jen Ryland's review with spoiler captures my feelings pretty strongly. For reference, I thought the ending might be a bit more like Elana K Arnold's Burning and it is not. I don't want to say too much for fear of spoilers other than that I expected more after the brilliance of Shine.

Content Warning: A lot of underage drinking and sexual content; moderate amount of language-definitely recommended for the more mature reader.

Other Opinions:
Alexa Loves Books
Rather Be Reading
Readers in Wonderland
The Flyleaf Review
Young Adult Book Haven

ARC Review: In the Shadow of Blackbirds

In the Shadow of Blackbirds by Cat Winters
4/5 stars
Amulet Books, 2013
404 pages
YA Historical Thriller
Scheduled to release April 2

Source: Received an e-ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I hope this isn't too morbid but I find the Spanish influenza pandemic of 1918 absolutely fascinating. Like it's not bad enough to have all the death from war, this catastrophic disease had to spread too. Yet I didn't really know that much about it. Well this book takes us deep into that time, latching on to the paranoia and terror felt by people in addition to their deep grief as almost every family is deeply affected either by the loss of a serviceman and/or someone to influenza. These deaths also fuel a craze for spiritualism such as taking photographs in the hopes of seeing your lost loved one as demonstrated in the cover photo.

Our protagonist is Mary Shelley Black, named for the excellent author and daughter to a now deceased physician mother and a father arrested on suspicion of treason. I wish we could have learned more about him but it seems that he has some German heritage and is very anti-war, reason enough to get the authorities involved.

Therefore Mary Shelley journeys from their home in Portland to live with her widowed aunt in San Diego. Their relationship is strained as Mary Shelley was caught kissing her friend Stephen whose cruel brother Julius spread the story that it went much further. This aunt is also deeply paranoid about the flu, draping their house in onions (apparently a real attempt). Julius has a spirit photography business that is booming in this time of tremendous loss and uncertainty but Mary Shelley pines for her sweet friend.

The bulk of the narrative is about Mary Shelley somehow being able to commune with Stephen, a sensitive young man who enlisted early and shares with her a story of torments from blackbirds. Mary Shelley spends most of her time attempting to puzzle out if the blackbirds are literal or figurative. She figures it out partially but doesn't put it all together until it is almost too late in a terrifying sequence. The writing around Stephen's torture and the suspense of what exactly happened led me to classify this book as a thriller and I think it may be too intense for some younger readers so read with caution.

Overall: A fast-moving thrilling story with a smart strong heroine and focusing on a lesser known time period: in short, it's good. 

League of Strays

League of Strays by LB Schulman
3.5/5 stars
Amulet, 2012
274 pages
YA Contemporary

Source: Received an e-ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I'm hoping that this doesn't bleed into my review but I'm a little cranky about the e-book's formatting. Usually I can view one page at a time but here the two pages were linked together so I the font was way too small to read on my tablet and I could only read it on my computer, which was tremendously inconvenient and therefore I took about a week to read what is a pretty short and fast-moving story. OK, I have that off my chest now!

I loved the idea of outcasts joining together to avenge their pain (who hasn't entertained a fantasy revenge or two?) but I was a little thrown by the cover, which says to me: "scary guy manipulates/forces naive girl into some bad plots" (I had only seen the cover in the thumbnail before and the menace wasn't noticeable.) This is not a completely inaccurate description of the plot as MC Charlotte is one of four people in thrall to Kade, whose instability is slowly teased out over the course of the novel. Kade's main attributes seemed to be that he was hot and rebellious, never my favorite characteristics, but sufficient to keep four followers for a semester.

Back to Charlotte, who I liked almost immediately, mostly because we both play viola (aka best instrument ever) and she had to change high schools. This leaves her (and the other strays) vulnerable to Kade's suggestions. He seems able to channel all of their anger and pain into plots against those who have wronged them. However those plans grow increasingly reckless and just plain evil, twinging at Charlotte's conscience until she can bear no more. I think as a more mature person reading the story with some distance between us, it was a little hard to see how long it took Charlotte to act. She realizes it's wrong much earlier than she gains the confidence to do anything about it, which just made me shake my head but at least she did end up doing something.

Overall: More of an intense contemporary (than my preferred light and fluffy) and definitely not for everyone-I can definitely see people not liking Charlotte and if you don't click with her as narrator, this will not be the read for you.

Cover: As mentioned, very clearly telegraphs that Kade is a sociopath; I also get a bit of a Twilight-ish vibe although I know that this guy is a brunette.

 

A Soldier's Secret

A Soldier's Secret by Marissa Moss
3.5/5 stars
Abrams, 2012
387 pages
YA Historical

Source: Received an e-ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I requested this book because I love the history of the American Civil War and I was not familiar with any stories about women disguising themselves as men in order to serve as soldiers although I knew that it had happened.

In this case, we have a novelized version of the story of Sarah Emma Edmonds, undercover as Frank Thompson from even before the war. She fled an abusive father and forced marriage in Canada, exchanging petticoats and corsets for the freedom of pants and lived as a traveling salesman before managing to enlist in the Army of the Potomac. Her story is unique in several ways: most of the other women who enlisted were following husbands or fiancees, giving them a person to confide in-Sarah did not have that. She also served not just as a soldier but also as a nurse, aide, and spy. Thirdly was the time spent as a man before serving-most of the others took up the disguise only upon war breaking out.

These three unique factors along with Sarah's remarkable bravery and patriotism help her stand out. This book takes her story, drawing heavily from her memoir to weave a new narrative for today's audience, incorporating contemporary pictures.

I love the idea behind this as well as the setting. Some of the most exciting moments were when Frank went undercover as a spy as well as seeing her craftiness in tight spots. There are some lags as the army sits around under various vacillating generals, true to the spirit. I had some trouble following the month/year although certain battles serve as touchstones for me. I am more familiar with the end of the war so to get to read more about the beginning was good for me.

But I had a lot of trouble connecting with Sarah/Frank, mainly due to her disguise and her conflicting feelings about gender. She's happy not to have the constraints of a woman's costume but she also falls for a fellow soldier, putting him in a tight spot. She also strongly stereotypes other women as dumb and boring, which surely some are but surely others had the same capacity to do cool things as Sarah if not possessing the nerve and motivation to actually do them. I guess I struggled with the mostly negative way she thought about womanhood as I am someone who has always felt very comfortable being female.

Overall: A cool, little-told story-how many fantasies have you read where the girl masquerades as a boy? And here we have one grounded in historical fact-it can be done! But drags a little and I had trouble connecting with the MC.

Cover: I think this cover is really well-done-I love the mix of masculine top with skirt bottom.

Darth Paper Strikes Back

Darth Paper Strikes Back by Tom Angleberger
4.5/5 stars
Amulet Books, 2011
163 pages
Middle-Grade Contemporary Humor

Source: Picked up for review from library.

After loving the hilarious antics of the kids in The Strange Case of Origami Yoda, I knew I'd be picking up this sequel. How could I resist another Star Wars tinged, epistolary middle-grade humorous novel? Only someone made of much sterner stuff could do so!

The book dives right in to the story, forcing me to remember the characters and their relationships. Honestly I had forgotten main character Tommy's name and there were a few other relationships I had to think about. Luckily I soon got back in the swing of things and sped through the book. This new book introduces a new character, Darth Paper, created by Harvey who serves as an antagonist to Dwight and his Origami Yoda, leading to Dwight being threatened with expulsion from their public school. He would get sent to a reform school with the really bad kids.

Of course Tommy and his classmates do not want that to happen. Although they still think Dwight is a weird kid, his advice in the first book and onwards has been immensely helpful to them time and time again even when they don't always understand it. This is proven over and over again. Fortunately Origami Yoda seems to know all and the ending is happily resolved.

This book also features two origami projects: an emergency 5-fold Origami Yoda as well as the titular Darth Paper. Additionally there is also the introduction of a Star Wars game within the book, giving readers multiple projects to embark upon after finishing reading.

Overall: We have a very funny novel told in alternating perspectives by the different students as they work together to prevent Dwight's fate.

Cover: Works perfectly with the previous book and signals the dark side, which seems to prevail for much of the book.

A Greyhound of a Girl

A Greyhound of a Girl by Roddy Doyle
3/5 stars
Amulet Books, 2012
201 pages
Middle-Grade Contemporary Fantastical

Source: Received an e-ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

While sister-sister relationships are my weakness, I love exploring any stories that feature female relationships. In this case, we have four generations of mothers/daughters. The main character is Mary, a twelve-year old struggling with the hospitalization of her beloved grandmother who is fighting death. Then Mary is visited by a ghost; in fact it is the ghost of her great-grandmother Tansy, who died too soon. Rounding out the group is Mary's mother.  These four will embark on a road trip together to usher in the next phase.

This is a fast easy read although I found the writing a little twee. "Grand" was used a lot as Tansy's favorite descriptor and one which the other women adopt. Needless to say it drove me crazy although imagining the characters saying this in their Irish accents helped a bit. Mary's mother Scarlett also had her own annoying quirk, which was ending every sentence in an explanation point or points. This one was easier to skip over but it grated.

I guess my problem with this book is that I didn't really see much character growth or plot movement. The big conflict is whether or not the family can face the death of the grandmother. By the end of the book, we have a greater understanding of the formative events in each lady's life and can see how much they mean to each other. But it didn't hit me hard and left me with a meh feeling at the end. I just wondered why this book was written and why I read it (it was the cover, which I think is beautiful although it also makes me think of an Austen novel...)

Overall: A sweet quiet book but not anything that made me excited. May be better for younger readers; would be interested to know their opinion.

Cover: I do think the cover is very beautiful-I love the swirly fonts, the flowers, and the silhouettes.

13 Hangmen

13 Hangmen by Art Corriveau
4.5/5 stars
Amulet Books, 2012
342 pages
MG; Contemporary; Historical

Source: Received an e-ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I did not know anything about this book going in to it although based on the title, I was kind of expecting a creepy read, possibly something fantasy revolving around hangmen. Well, that is not it. In fact, it is something better, weaving together lots of little historical moments into a big mystery.

The beginning is a little slow as everything is set up. Tony inherits first an authentic Ted Williams Red Sox cap and then his great-uncle's house on 13 Hangmen's Court in Boston. He, his historian father, mother, and twin older brothers thus move to their new home only to uncover a variety of problems. The house is not in good condition and the father is accused of murdering the uncle by pesky neighbor Hagmann.

However Tony uncovers a secret. When he places the cap on a symbol in his room, he can commune with his great-uncle in 1939; both boys are 13 and share the connection of the hat. As they talk, they learn about how the family Hagmann has been trying to get their house for generations and end up talking with other thirteen-year old boys who owned the house under the same unusual circumstances as Tony, revealing every time a little bit more about the mystery of the house as well as a peek into American history through one of its most important cities.

While I was a little skeptical of this book, I quickly fell in love and flew through it. There are so many aspects I love: awkward boy struggling with his weight and fitting in with his family, love of mysteries as Tony gets the opportunity to try to solve an actual one, and of course American history as we get to go all the way back to the time of the American Revolution.

As a middle-grade novel, I thought the writing was on a simpler level than perhaps a YA novel would be. This is not a bad observation; in fact, I think it helped me to read this as I was just drawn into the world. And I did think the writing had some interesting concepts, particularly in its use of history, showing how different ethnic groups moved through the neighborhoods as well as our connections to others through objects. Throughout I was wondering if all of the history presented was accurate; happily Corriveau presented an engaging look at separating his story from history.

Overall: A really fun melding of some of my favorite subjects: mystery, American history, some baseball, and family!

Cover: Wow-another cover that matches! Baseball is very relevant as are the spirals.

Dying to Know You

Dying to Know by Aidan Chambers
4/5 stars
Amulet Books, 2012
275 pages
YA; Contemporary

Source: Received an e-ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This looked like an interesting read so when I saw it pop up, I requested it. I didn't really know much going in but I ended up finding a lot to recommend it and to differentiate it from many other books in the YA category.

First we have a male narrator (yay!) but that narrator is actually an elderly man enlisted by the young male protagonist to aid in his courtship of a wordsmith young lady. Then it is set in the UK, not very unique but I mostly read books set in America or else historicals set in England. Reading a contemporary set in England is fairly rare. And third is the pedigree of the author. Chambers won the Carnegie medal for Postcards from No Man's Land, a book I vaguely remember reading many years ago.

The young male Karl who asks for help is a fascinating character. His years of schooling have taught him to think less of himself due to his difficulties with writing, a consequence of his dyslexia. The loss of his father at a young age also severely impacted him. But the lady insists so he goes to the writer, her favorite writer in fact.  But as the two meet up to work on this project, the writer discovers that he is getting as much from Karl as he is giving. Yes, he is sharing his power with words but Karl is giving the writer hope after the death of his beloved wife.

This book relies heavily on dialogue, something I love as it is generally makes for fast reading than dense paragraphs of description or *shudder* internal monologues. But in this case the rapid back and forth of the characters rarely had "said" or "told" attached, making it a little tricky to remember who was saying what. Of course it's not impossible, it just means I needed to slow down to appreciate what was occurring.

It's a quiet book without the razzle-dazzle action scenes of paranormals and fantasies. But it is not without its emotional power. Seeing Karl battle his demons and discover his strong, capable self was a true pleasure.

Overall: Thoughtful writing lift this story above the ordinary for a lovely reading experience.

Cover: Definitely not something that would appeal to me (given my penchant for pretty dresses and cartoonish covers) but actually relevant to the contents of the book, a big plus for YA!

The Strange Case of Origami Yoda

The Strange Case of Origami Yoda by Tom Angleberger
Amulet Books, 2010
141 pages
Middle-Grade; Humor
4/5 stars

Source: Library

Read for Best Overlooked YA Book Battle.

This story is the investigation of Tommy, Harvey, and Kellen to see if the origami Yoda designed and voiced by Dwight is actually Yoda who can give help for the future.  In order to discover the truth, Tommy gathers stories from his classmates in grade 6 before he decides to make a big decision based on Yoda's advice.

I was super excited about this book because it references Star Wars and I'm definitely a fan.  Bonus: at the end of the book, there are instructions on how to fold your own Yoda!  I didn't give them a try but they looked simple enough to follow.  I loved the format of the book which is told in journal entries (plus illustrations by Kellen) from the various classmates to explain when Yoda gave good, bad, or cryptic advice.

I enjoyed meeting the classmates, who all had their unique voice and experience with Yoda.  Dwight was probably the most compelling character for me.  Despite being the creator of Origami Yoda, he didn't always follow his own advice, frequently ending up the butt of jokes and teased by the other students.  Regardless, he marched to his own beat and ended up okay.  Harvey is the skeptic who attempts to rain on Origami Yoda's parade but the ending is very cute and satisfying.

Overall: A very fast read looking at lives and motivations of a group of great kids; recommended for younger readers and those who like Star Wars.

Cover: I'm pretty sure Origami Yoda didn't have a light saber (although how cool would that have been?) but it signals who he is more effectively.